Sinful Cinema Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Most Offensive and Homophobic Football Movie Ever Made

One of my favorite things about recalling my movie-watching past is considering the ways I viewed certain films through younger eyes. To see these movies again, today, is often a wildly different experience. Back then, there were countless passages I didn’t get, and, surely, dialogue I couldn’t grasp. A childhood story I’ve recounted ad nauseam involves Batman Returns, and my recitation of the word “bastard” at a friend’s house during playtime. I was eight, and I was scolded by the friend’s mom, but all I knew was that’s what Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman said when she landed in a truck full of kitty litter. We all have stories like this, of course. But I recently discovered that, in my personal viewing history, perhaps no movie has played more differently for my current and former selves than Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Co-written by lead star Jim Carrey, this 1994 football-themed farce made the rubbery comedian a household name, and was quickly followed, within two years, by the onslaught of The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Batman Forever, and the Ace Ventura sequel, When Nature Calls. I’m not sure if I ever loved Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, but I clearly absorbed enough of it to remember its hallmarks well: lines like, “Alrighty then”; Ace’s signature, tidal-wave up-do; and gags like Ace literally talking out of his ass. What I didn’t realize is that this movie is shockingly offensive, and not in the tongue-in-cheek, envelope-pushing way most modern comedies are. It’s set during the lead-up to a Super Bowl, and while I’m sure plenty of football films have delivered their share of queer slurs, I don’t think any are as homophobic—or, in large part, transphobic—as this one.

But even before Ace Ventura takes jaw-dropping swipes at the queer community (we’ll get to that), it’s already cluelessly steeped in poor taste. Ace, for those who don’t know, is a Miami-based sleuth who specializes in tracking down animals. He’s eccentric to a fault, and often animalistic himself, nibbling sunflower seeds and spitting away the shells like a bird, and employing an arsenal of creature sounds that give Carrey a vocal workout. His animal love is so great that even the killing of a cockroach sets him off, and yet, he’s hired by the Miami Dolphins’ publicist, Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox), to track down Snowflake, the team’s kidnapped dolphin mascot, who was already living its life in a tank barely larger than a suburban swimming pool. That Ace never flinches at the fact that Snowflake’s everyday captivity was animal cruelty in itself is the first sign of this movie’s blind, archaic morals (indeed, this particular point feels all the worse in the wake of an eye-opener like Blackfish). Retrieving the dolphin would be better than seeing it murdered by its captor(s), but Ace’s motivation, aside from the pay, is to return Snowflake in time for a halftime performance, where it can do tricks on command and ease player superstitions by serving as their good-luck charm.

As Ace begins to crack the case (not to mention bed an inexplicably smitten Melissa), he starts sniffing out a former Dolphin kicker named Ray Finkle, who in 1984 flubbed a 26-yard field goal in the closing minutes of the Super Bowl, and blamed the whole thing on Dan Marino, who plays himself in the film, and who allegedly failed to hold the ball for Finkle with the “laces out.” The shame of the loss drove Finkle mad, and his story leads Ace down a path that makes a folly of mental illness. At Finkle’s backwoods childhood home, where his (admittedly funny) parents (Bill Zucker and Alice Drummond) declare that “Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell,” Ace is shown the ex-player’s old bedroom, which is loaded with nothing but defaced, mutilated Marino merchandise, like jerseys stabbed with machetes. From there, Ace heads off, with Melissa in tow, to the Tampa mental hospital from which Finkle escaped years ago. To allow Melissa to distract the facility’s head doctor (David Margulies), and clear the way for a little on-site snooping, Ace poses as a mental patient, which involves donning a pink tutu, adopting a pseudo-Downs syndrome inflection, and pretending to live inside his own perpetual fantasy football league. While extras portraying actual mental patients wander in the background, and the doctor running this place looks on, Ace takes a pause in a spot that might hold Finkle clues. He halts at a drinking fountain, splashes water on himself, then kneels and slams his face into a padded bench. “He’ll be fine there by himself for the next 20 minutes,” Melissa assures the doc.

Really, though, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’s insensitivity toward animals and the mentally ill is peanuts compared to its contempt for LGBT people. After hunting down all potential suspects rocking the 1984 AFC Championship ring (one of whom Ace inspects while standing beside him at a urinal, and who prances after Ace with arms aflutter expecting a hookup), the “pet dick,” as he’s often called, realizes Finkle’s been in his midst all along. Turns out Finkle is now Lois Einhorn (Sean Young), the local, libidinous police lieutenant who derides Ace when she’s not sticking her tongue down his and everyone else’s throats. At the time of this movie’s release, Ace’s revelation was played entirely for laughs, but seen today, it’s basically horrifying. “Finkle is Einhorn!” Ace declares to himself. “Einhorn is a man!” With that, Ace, remembering that Einhorn pinned him on her desk and gave him sloppy kisses, goes into a violent burst of queer panic, purging in the toilet, loading his mouth with toothpaste, taking a plunger to his face, purging some more, burning his clothes, and finally crying naked in the shower, all to the tune of Boy George’s “The Crying Game.” Spying the pre-op trans woman the next day, Ace, still loading his mouth with chewing gum as a disinfectant, notes that “the gun” that was “digging into [his] hip” during the pair’s make-out session was in fact a penis, and he shudders madly at the thought.

There’s a tiny part of me that wants to at least acknowledge the unbound novelty of this movie’s big twist, but where things ultimately go leaves no room for anything close to kudos. The climax of the film features Einhorn and some hired thugs holding Marino and Snowflake hostage, and Ace crashing the party with his new, illicit knowledge. In the wake of Ace and Einhorn’s physical brawl, which draws all of Miami’s finest (and the whole film’s cast) to the scene, Ace proceeds to act out a torturous bit of trans-shaming. Aiming to prove that Einhorn is in disguise, he tries to tug off a possible wig. No dice. He then rips open her blouse, where, indeed, he finds breasts. Finally, he yanks off her skirt, and the lack of a package in her panties leaves him speechless. Spent and mortified, Einhorn stands there on display, until, thanks to a tip-off from Marino, Ace grabs his culprit and spins her around, revealing the vivid bulge of a dick and balls that Einhorn had tucked back. Just then, “The Crying Game” picks back up on the soundtrack, and all the males on site begin spitting and cleaning out their mouths, as they too have all locked lips with a woman packing a cock. There is no redemption for Einhorn. She’s knocked into the water and left humiliated all over again—a pathetic loser who deserves to suffer not just for kidnapping, but for the gross crimes of mental instability, sexual deviance, and anatomical otherness.

One might argue that there’s simply a villainous madman at the core of all this, and the film certainly contends that everything, including the sex-change processes, was part of Finkle’s elaborate plan to exact revenge on Marino. But the gravity of what such a plot disregards is tremendous, and the way all of it is depicted on screen is, in retrospect especially, criminal. I haven’t a doubt in my head that, while I surely enjoyed Carrey and his antics in this movie, the message it sends contributed to my thinking that being queer is a fate worse than death. The drastic lengths to which Ace Ventura: Pet Detective goes to assert the awfulness of men kissing men and men becoming women is militant. Although there is an upswing, and a comfort. Watching this film now, it’s abundantly clear that it couldn’t possibly be made today, at least not outside the taboo-driven satire of Johnny Knoxville and the like. Ultimately, the film evokes a good feeling of pop-culture progress, which, I guess, when looking down at it through utterly pitiful eyes, is a little funny.

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a hot transexual girl. KEY WORD. HOT TO YOUR STANDARDS, PERHAPS TO THOSE WHO ENTOUNTED TRANS WOMEN , werent into them, dosent make em trans phobic lmfao. also its normal for humans to freak out when they see a dick on a female 'looking body' if they.. havent been informed. They may freak out at first, but that dosent always mean they hate it, everyone reacts diff.. some ppl come back to it. and also it dosent make one gay either.. but again its not natural. Yes the people behind the chemical brain function are.. still humans with souls and feelings. Everyone is entitled to love. but.. lol for a human to not be with the opposing sex .. isnt biologically correct, and who knows what will happen in the future. However anyone who is straight or not straight, feels all the same. there are men who feel like women and women who feel like men, and their brains connect and they fall in love with the person not the apperance, thats fucking beautiful, any love is beautiful. BUT ITS NOT NATURAL. and who cares get over it we let ppl with disabilitys do olympics and they rock ass at it. so quit crying over being diff. accept it , stop getting offended and own your shit. you got it.

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:23:31

you need to get off the pc and get a life lol youre in every comment, i can say this cos i myself have no life and need to get up. lol

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:20:16

there is a reason for everything you bafoon. lol

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:19:54

lol i can tell youre not white. the way you speak off other races is offending and i hope you notice it. also skin color shouldnt fucking matter and im surprised this damn world hasnt figured it out yet lol. its the people behind the skin okay. and not all white girls like like um, this kk. lmfao. dude black dudes go mostly for white girls cos they dont want that hussle. dont eveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen. and theres also white dudes going for big black girls. WHO FUCKING CARES U NUT

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:19:19

you know some people are born into this world unaware of bisexual of mentaly disabled ppl.. they simply havent seen them or havent been ducated of it lol.. or havent met anyone who has opened up about it persay. or theyre just fucking iggnorant. but point is if ur a human born into this world and like women and are forced to kiss a dude for whateever reason, you have everyright to extrapolate ur feelings lol. mouth rape yo

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:15:59

lol he has everyright to be disgusted by two humans kissing. sometimes straight folks kissing is too much even for me. Again to each their own. peoplewho kiss in public need to either accept that ppl will look at them and think about everydamn possibility or just ignore the world and live your life.

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:14:08

.. whats wrong with you mr m. Crystals pretty accurate. there will always be people who dont understand and iggnorant folks. Dont waste your attention and energy on those folks.

Posted by ponyo nicoleo on 2017-10-16 10:12:46

You said it, it's a movie, not an opinion of a person. The opinion is what we have about it. You haven't learned anything in the last 23 years

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 17:03:57

I don't get it, I am heterosexual and I wouldn't find it gross to kiss a hot transsexual girl in case I didn't even realize that she was actually a man. WTF is wrong with society?!?! why should I be grossed out by something I enjoyed?! I am grossed out by people raping people or cutting their heads off, not by fucking people kissing each other. but hey, sure, it was different times, we are looking at it from a different perspective today...

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 17:00:57

And you got taught that it is alright to offend people for no reason?

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:54:57

so tv HAS an influence on ppl's lifes, your quite incosistent

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:54:19

because it's a movie it's alright?! we aren't entitled to opinions because it's a movie? it's not like gay people are bombing the people that made the movie is it?!

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:53:37

I dont know what definition you have in mind, but in my book it says: "Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality"

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:51:03

yeah sure

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:49:56

sure you are

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:49:03

yeah? why? should two kissing men be disgusting and therefore funny? I liked the movie as a kid, it kinda shocked me seeing it recently again, even though most of it is fucking brilliant

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:48:03

whats wrong with you you fuck-up, mind your own business creep

Posted by Mr. M on 2017-09-05 16:46:13

I really loved this movie as a kid. The over-the-top humor was right up my alley. Looking back, I realized that the trans-humor is pretty hurtful. It's a very typical, over-used joke of the 80's and 90's: the "woman turning out to be a man is disgusting" joke. It's been used countlessly, for example in Crocodile Dundee I or even in Ally McBeal (played by Lisa Edelstein). It's always been a stupid joke, not really funny, overused and cheesy, but we've now reached a time where we can realize that it's actually super hurtful and mean more than anything.

Posted by Jeroen on 2017-08-30 19:37:29

This movie was ofcourse accurate. Sickness is transexualism

Posted by Aaron David on 2017-08-27 19:41:04

I'm glad you know you should be inan asylum

Posted by Aaron David on 2017-08-27 19:39:12

Here here!

Posted by Brendan Harris on 2017-07-20 22:59:38

I remember the first time I saw this movie; I was thinking the same things. I couldn't really enjoy it because it was so offensive. Thank you for the article.

Posted by Alex on 2017-07-09 21:51:16

I'm thinking the writer has a personal problem with Jim Carey, Maybe he owes Jim money? Maybe Jim didn't want to be in his stupid little magazine for an interview or something..

Posted by John on 2017-07-05 18:26:49

You are clearly a person thirsty for attention, you want people to feel sympathy towards you, to notice you, don't your parents give you attention? Don't you have any friends? You are probably either just a 14 year old troll, or some unemployed bum that lives in a basement.. and you are bored out of your mind, annoying and harassing people over a movie..

Posted by John on 2017-07-05 18:24:30

That clearly would not happen you psychopath, Ace is not racist, and even if he was, they knew back then to not make racist jokes. So you are an idiot. And how do you connect trans phobic to racist you moron? They are not related at all...

Posted by John on 2017-07-05 18:22:04

People actually did care about homophobia back then. It's just there were much less openly gay poeple and therefor much less people who had gay friends and family members, so there was much less outrage. Also they were not indoctrinated by gender studies and all kinds of useless social justice classes, they were able to think for them selves and realize "It's just a movie, no need to be angry." Second there weren't even half as many drug users back then as there are now, I believe that is another big reason why people are so hostile, easily annoyed and offended, and can't just respect someone else's opinions and views, it's the drugs rotting their minds

Posted by John on 2017-07-05 16:46:14

Actually they werent taboo back then, atleast not any more then they are now. The reasons why they are more prevalent these days is because of the pop culture, black culture and having black friends is cool now, so of course white girls have to jump on the new trend, because god forbid they aren't cool and don't fit in, that would like, um totally suck They are doing it because all the teen magazines and MTV is telling them it's cool, so white is lame and black is cool, they are mindless dronesAlso they are doing it because they don't get along with their parents, and what better way to piss them of then dating outside the race. Almost forgot about white guys & black girls, that's an obvious one, white girls are more into other races or into girls at very high rates, so obviously the white guys have to look for sex else where

Posted by John on 2017-07-05 16:30:15

You are pathetic, that's all I will say, I don't want to go on a rant here

Posted by John on 2017-07-05 03:08:48

Wow. A recent response to a two-year-old comment. Alright. You forced my hand.

"''She' had cock and balls. 'She' is a man by any definition *I'm* willing to use. Also, while I don't really remember the movie, people around here have been saying 'she' was NOT a transwoman (even by loose definitions that allow them to have male genitalia), and was merely pretending to be a woman."

None of these semantics matter, considering this whole sequence was meant as a direct reference to the film 'The Crying Game,' where the main character has a violent overreaction to finding out that his love interest is transgender. Also a very problematic sequence of events.

"'having a homophobic reactionLook up homophobia. When you realize it IS NOT a straight man being disgusted by kissing a man, come back."

I'm back. Having an extreme crying, vomiting, gum-wad chewing meltdown over the thought of kissing a man (which was what Ace's gripe was, not even a transwoman, a man) is quite possibly one of the purest distillations of homophobia you could ever document. Merely referring to that as "being disgusted" is both reductive and fucking stupid.

"Then look up something along the lines of 'over-reaction as a source of humor.'"

Having a violent meltdown over kissing a transwoman or man as a source of humor is lazy.

"Done? I believe that solves all of your problems."

All done, dipshit. ^_^

Posted by Eric Harris on 2017-06-22 09:55:14

It's quite ironic that in the movie Ace Ventura saves Snowflake, while the writer of this article is a complete snowflake.

Grow up you pansy cuck.

Posted by Tommy Rotherham on 2017-06-21 01:14:36

To be fair though, it's not supposed to offend gay people hahaha. Being gay is not the same as being trans.

Posted by Lauren on 2017-05-09 22:10:42

I'm a transgender male, and this movie is a staple in my sense of humor and life.. It does not bother me personally. I still think this is one of the most hilarious movies ever made. I think we need to pick our battles, guys.

Posted by Lauren on 2017-05-09 22:00:43

Yup totally agree!! Thank you! Like I said earlier some people will find something to complain or get "offended" by with everything!!

Posted by Crystal Huerta on 2017-04-29 02:17:47

Right?! Even my gay friend thought whoever wrote this was so stupid and a crybaby. He didn't get offended over this movie and like I said he's gay! Some people find misery in everything! Hilarious movie and this is by far the dumbest review I've ever read!! Someone needs to go to their safe space!

Posted by Crystal Huerta on 2017-04-29 02:15:16

Reading this article made me remember how funny and awesome this movie is. I actually lol'd while reading it and remembering each scene. I know what I'll be watching tonight.

Posted by Bob on 2017-04-06 10:28:17

"Except labeling a transwoman as a man is implied transphobia.""She" had cock and balls. "She" is a man by any definition *I'm* willing to use.Also, while I don't really remember the movie, people around here have been saying "she" was NOT a transwoman (even by loose definitions that allow them to have male genitalia), and was merely pretending to be a woman.

"having a homophobic reaction"Look up homophobia. When you realize it IS NOT a straight man being disgusted by kissing a man, come back.Then look up something along the lines of "over-reaction as a source of humor."Done? I believe that solves all of your problems.

Posted by Mythraen on 2017-03-26 13:40:09

"maybe homophobic cause the thought of kissing a man makes Ace disgusted."That's not homophobia, by any definition of the word.

Posted by Mythraen on 2017-03-26 13:29:53

I think it was meant to be funny in how over the top and ridiculous his counter-measures to having kissed a man are. Barely makes the list of funny moments in the movie but I don't think it was that insensitive. We're viewing it as we view things now but things were different in the mid '90s. No one cared if you referred to something as gay derogatorily or even using worse terms. I mean, mixed-race couples was still a taboo thing in the 90s to many people.

Posted by Avi on 2017-01-14 18:26:15

This is true, but if they're trying to get with you (either in a relationship or for sex) than your partner as a right to know what sex they are.

Posted by Josh Spicer on 2016-11-16 09:16:41

The writer of this article is not someone who would be fun to have a beer with.

Posted by Mike Gordon on 2016-10-15 15:11:05

Mrs. Garrison: But I paid five thousand dollars to be a woman. This would mean I I'm not really a woman. I...I'm just a... a I'm just a guy with a mutilated penis?Doctor: Basically, yes.Mrs. Garrison: ...Oh boy, do I feel like a jackass.

Now joking aside, I could understand how some people would be offended but thankfully normal people have brains and are not easily offended pansies.

Posted by Scorchx on 2016-09-05 11:49:02

I'm just watching Ace Ventura, and I googled why some people thought it was transphobic. Now, the whole scene is over and while I don't think it's either funny or tasteful, I don't think it's transphobic, because it's a (presumed) cis straight man posing as a woman kissing straight cis man. He's trying to pull this criminal stunt under another persona, he's not truly trans. So I don't think it's transphobic, maybe homophobic cause the thought of kissing a man makes Ace disgusted. I repeat, I don't find it funny.Maybe I'm wrong? Anyone care to chime in?

Posted by Bren on 2016-04-12 21:18:53

Except labeling a transwoman as a man is implied transphobia. And even then, having a homophobic reaction to the extent of purging in the toilet and shoving meteors of gum into your mouth isn't better.

Posted by Eric Harris on 2015-12-09 10:21:23

okay. I appreciate your concern for the LGBT+ community in this article, and I'mnot here to bash you.I myself am transgender and pansexual, and this movie didn't offend me at all. I understand that Ace found it gross that he had kissed a 'man.' Straight men aren't attracted to men and it would be considered gross to them if they had kissed one. Yes, there were some parts where they went a little overboard. But, hey, that's the media for you.

Posted by emmett on 2015-11-17 09:22:15

Not at all. Just because this one character is disturbed does not suggest at all that every transgender person is disturbed. Nor does it suggest that all disturbed people are transgender. God created man and woman. Done and done. God loves us all, but not our sin. A liar or murderer just as equally as an adulterer or sexual deviant. God loves you.

Posted by ethan starr on 2015-11-11 13:45:44

Your sarcasm is confusing

Posted by ethan starr on 2015-11-11 13:41:04

Ya because he doesn't like men. No where in the movie does it say that being transgender or gay is wrong. He (ace) just doesn't like kissing men. James 4:1-6

Posted by ethan starr on 2015-11-11 13:39:23

No it's not and no it's not. You have poor taste

Posted by ethan starr on 2015-11-11 13:36:54

It's a movie. You are trying to crtique ACE VENTURA? Get a job. Life is not about being PC. People are entitled to their opinions, no where in the movie do they bash the LG community. Just because he doesn't want to kiss men makes him a hate monger? Once again it is a movie and a comedy at that. Get a life.

Posted by ethan starr on 2015-11-11 13:34:43

Actually it is someone's business what's between a person's legs, if said person is trying to get the someone between there legs, which is exactly what happened in Ace.

Posted by Ambrose Cook-Saloway on 2015-10-29 13:12:56

It's not someone's duty to tell you if they're a naturally born woman or not. If they are a transgender woman, then that's that. She shouldn't have to say anything. It's no one's business what's between a person's legs. It's not like this character literally straight-out says "I'm a naturally born woman".

Posted by Real_Kurvos on 2015-10-26 05:22:36

Hella stupid, I have transgender friends, but I would be bummed if a Transgender convinced me she was a Naturally Born Woman, and then I found out she was a Transgender. Yeah Ace goes a little overboard in his reaction, but that's kind of Jim Carrey's style in most his movies.

Also Ace is an asshole, we tend to laugh more at him than along side him. People should be allowed write assholes into their movies, as assholes make up a part of the world and are good at being comic relief to laugh at or villain characters.

Bad article.

Posted by Ambrose Cook-Saloway on 2015-08-13 15:16:35

"If I found out a girl that kissed me was really a dude." Then they're a girl, not a dude ad this would make it transphobic for you to see them as a man and feel sick because of it. If they are in fact a dude, as in their gender is male, I suppose it would be considered a slightly different matter.

Posted by L Lawliet on 2015-08-10 21:00:20

Exactly. Your gender doesn't change. We are who we are. And no, a man and a woman cannot change who they are. Ever. And this is exactly why they don't spend their whole lives pretending to be something they're not. You identify as your gender, regardless of your sex, the transition is about being seen for who they are. I think it's about time YOU wake up and accept that people aren't going to hide from themselves, and I think you should accept the fact that it is you who is poisoning our society. Also, why would transgender people want heterosexuality to be banned when many trans people are heterosexual themselves? It doesn't matter that you don't like sexual contact with the same sex, each to their own. But keep in mind that many same sex couples probably find heterosexual sex to be gross too. But the gender of somebody's partner is nobody's business but their own. And if that last comment was actually regarding sex between a trans person and a cis person of the opposite gender, I have ignored that fact because it was not made totally clear.

Posted by L Lawliet on 2015-08-10 20:53:13

A man and a women can never change who they are..haha! Just cause you altered your body doesn't mean your gender changed. WAKE THE HECK UP! Stop being delusional. You can't just wake up and decide to be a different sex and then be upset that people refer you by the way you were born. Grow up, seek mental help and get over yourselves. This sick lifestyle is poisoning our society! Now you want heterosexuality to be banned! Haha! You all need to toughen up and stop being little babies cause others don't like sexual contact with the same sex, edited or not.

Posted by james leconte on 2015-07-28 05:50:16

Wow...when did a man unknowingly making out with another man become ok or normal? Haha! Man on man is gross and disgusting. If you chose to engage in homosexuality then it's your choice and you have your freedom to do so. Don't be mad cause the whole world has not become homosexual. If everyone was homosexual none of hall would be born, just stop it. It's gross.

Oh really? Is that why there's a montage of Jim Carrey crying, vomiting and burning his clothes upon realizing he had been kissing a transwoman? Is that why he constantly refers to a transwoman as a man? Is that why they would create a premise that reinforces the stereotype that trans people are just trying to trick everybody?

Posted by Eric Harris on 2015-06-10 12:47:53

I only sleep with women who were born female. I just now, after reading your comment, learned that I am a transphobe, and a sick bigot. Eye-opening stuff here. It is too late for me to change but at least now I know. If this makes you feel better, at least know that I am kind to all people, even if I do not want to sleep with them.

Posted by jdt on 2015-06-08 18:29:38

Well Gender Identity Disorder is a mental illness so...And if it's not, if it's perfectly normal, then what's wrong with people making fun of it? Shouldn't they be held to the same standards as everyone else?

Posted by Jamie Parsons on 2015-06-05 01:34:59

Um no, there's nothing in science that says that. Sexual orientation isn't to do with science and gender and sex are separated only by what the relevant society says.

Posted by Jamie Parsons on 2015-06-05 01:33:21

Ah yeah, sex is that simple except in the case of intersex or hermaphroditic people and people born with extra X or Y chromosomes. Psychological gender is bullshit.

Posted by Jamie Parsons on 2015-06-05 01:32:13

Except that stat is garbage. If transgender kids kill themselves it's because of their mental disorder they're going through, not because of some parody scene on TV. If a kid kills themselves because someone made fun of a transwoman on television then they have a lot more mental problems than just gender dysphoria.

No, by YOUR logic J Edgar Hoover was transgendered, simply because he wore a dress once or twice. Gender is more than a presentation - it is biologically proven.

Posted by Alice on 2015-04-25 18:37:00

You can throw around buzzwords all you like, but gender absolutely can be a disguise. By your logic, J. Edgar Hoover was transgendered.

Posted by Holly Sharp on 2015-04-23 20:35:14

Gender is not a choice, and is not determined by a choice of clothing. You cannot just put on a dress and call yourself a woman. Clothing does not have gender. Putting on a dress does not make me a woman any more than putting on a pair of pants would make me a man. Lois Einhorn was a woman in this movie, yet when Ace Ventura wore the tutu he was still decidedly a man. Gender is not a costume that you can just put on or take off. If someone is not wearing clothing would this just make them a genderless entity???

Gender is very complicated and can be determined by many things. It is never a choice, and does not come from something so simple as what clothing a person wears. There are often biological differences between transgendered people and those who match their birth sex, mainly within brain chemistry. Those who are transgendered know that they are the gender they wish to be on the inside - regardless of what they look like externally. Many experience dysphoria, be it social (based on how others perceive them) or body (disgust with bodily features and at least for me a feeling of being detached from your body because it does not feel like it is truly yours) which can be cured through transition and achieving the look of the desired gender through surgery and hormone treatment. It is not so simple as putting on a dress as transgendered people still have to start somewhere with treatment and will generally not wear the clothing of their desired gender until they "pass" as the opposite sex.

There are also other identities such as nonbinary and nongendered people, but those are something I do not understand at all and will not get into (my views on them are generally very negative as I have met too many who do it "for political reasons" aka that they are very sexist and selfish and think that being less female will suddenly grant them a pay rise).

Posted by Alice on 2015-04-19 02:38:03

Of course this movie is transphobic, for crossdressers do not exist. The only logical conclusion one can draw when a person wears women's clothing is that they identify as the opposite gender. There is no other reason one would do this; crossdressing as a disguise is not a possibility. Everyone who puts on a dress is a woman, regardless of the reason behind the act; that's just how it works.

Therefore, when I - someone who does not identify as a woman in any way shape or form and never will - puts on makeup and a dress and goes and kisses a man, that guy shouldn't have a problem at all. As a matter of fact, he should enjoy it. Because, as we all know, I was a woman for that thirty-seven minute period, and not a man called Mike Davis who is a straight, married blacksmith with kids who will never crossdress again.

Looking at it this way, of course this movie is transphobic. Ray Finkle wanted to be Lois Einhorn. It wasn't a disguise, which is why he dressed and stood as a man whenever he got a chance (see scene where they're kidnapping the dolphin, during which you don't see his face), and also why he started walking like a man when he made sure nobody was looking at he approached the warehouse for the final confrontation with Marino. No, Ray Finkle wanted to be Lois Einhorn; it wasn't a disguise born of narcissism, Paranoid Personality Disorder, and a desperate need for a hiding place and revenge. He was transgendered; that's the only logical conclusion.

As such, how dare the officers who had once made out with the woman react the way they did! I mean, only a truly awful group of individuals would react with disgust after having been tricked by Ray Finkle - an ex-football player in an elaborate disguis... ahem... I mean, transgendered woman... into making out?

This movie makes me sick!

Posted by Holly Sharp on 2015-04-04 21:53:23

I think Ace's reaction was over the top, and the scene where the cop is strip-searched (for a penis!) is very uncomfortable, as it is a violation, and somehow okay because she's transgender? However, I completely understand wanting to know if someone was born biologically male or female, especially if they're still packing the, ahem, equipment. Feeling uncomfortable with that is a right. Although it can be mandated by society to treat another as the gender they perform/prefer, it cannot be mandated that we date or have relations with that person as if they were born biologically that gender. And calling people "transphobic" or "homophobic" because they don't want to get down with certain people who might have been born biologically the same gender as them is ridiculous (and is another sign of PCism moving towards fascism). I'm sorry, but I DO think transgender people have a duty to disclose their birth sex to partners (and therefore may want to look for partners they know will be open-minded in the first place); it is violating the rights of others not to disclose, and I would, were I transgender. I know their lives are hard to begin with, and that that's just another obstacle to happiness, but it's the ethical thing to do; some people are not comfortable with dating someone who used to be the sex to which they are not attracted, and that's their right (not to mention infertility and sexual performance issues--which granted cisgender people have too, but that just means lies piled upon lies about why). That said, the movie was definitely out of line.

Posted by calabasa on 2015-03-11 15:36:50

Straight men will never be ok with a transsexual making a move on them in the eyes of a straight person they are being moved on by a homosexual. So for a trans person to be in the mind set that the person on the receiving end is the one in the wrong is totally invalid

Posted by Scott Keohane on 2015-02-12 04:36:41

Who would feel sick over someone 1 80th Negro kissing them. I know maybe 2/300 people that would slightly unconfortable if a dude kissed them that doesn't make them bad people it just makes them straight get a grip you militant moron

Posted by Scott Keohane on 2015-02-11 20:34:30

What a pathetic view of a classic funny film I am in no way homophobic or transphobic but I'm not being funny if I found out a girl that kissed me was really a dude I would probably feel slighty sick about it as I would feel sick if a guy kissed me. That doesn't mean I have any derogatory feeling or opinions of gay or transgender people it just means that im not into that. And for you brain dead idiots that feel it should be perfectly normal for a straight person to not feel sick over that, you're deluded. Let me put it another way would a homosexual male feel comfortable with a female kissing him?? We're the answer to that would be no. So let me ask another question. Why does the world owe you something because you're slightly different. I here a lot of arguments based on sexual equality well let's get it straight equality stand for equal not supreme. Get down off ur high horses and stop acting like the world owes you something. i don't feel the world owes me somthing for being straight. So why should it owe you anything for being gay or transgender. Grow the fuck up.

Posted by Scott Keohane on 2015-02-11 20:05:36

No, but if you had sex with someone, and like it....and then feel bad when you find out how old they are later, and have a negative reaction.

That would actually be a form of ageism.

(Which is a thing.)

......

Really bad comparison, though.

nice try.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 21:10:46

Once again, that's because the scene is TRANSPHOBIC, not homophobic.

It doesn't slight gay men. It slights trans women.

Those are two different people. OF COURSE, he didn't have a problem with it.

So yeah, trans women ARE women....and once transitioned, have to deal with a LOT of the same things other women have to deal with.

Only a bigot says otherwise. And you saying that they're not who they say there are, is an act of bigotry, transphobia, and has absolutely NO scientific merit what so ever.

(Brain sex, or gender, supersedes birth sex, after all.)

............

A better question is, do you have the same problems with Trans men?

And, if not, is that because you've been conditioned to believe that anyone born with a "male" anatomy is inherently corrupt and not to be trusted?

Is it because abuse is something only people with "boy parts" are capible of?

........

Because, I have to tell you, that's completely sexist and not true.

In fact, there are more cis-gendered female child abusers, than men, for example: click here

So maybe you should take a moment to evaluate your hatred of transgender people, and why you think the way you do.

That is, if you consider yourself an intelligent person, after all.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 21:04:07

Su1ciety.....the people here are trying to get you to question the world around you, and the opinions you've been programed to have through television and movies.

And you are vilifying them for it.

.......

If you can't see the transphobia inherent in that Ace Ventura scene, then its probably because you hate trans people.

And as a trans person, I'm telling you this.

That scene is BEYOND fucked up.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 20:54:29

Transphobic is actually a better term for it.

He throws up, because they're trans, and that makes them "bad" and "icky".

.....

As I said in an earlier comment, it would be like kissing a girl, and finding out her great, great grandpappy was black.

Then you throw up and have the same reaction.

......

In that situation, the reaction you would have would be a racist reaction.

And if you had the same reaction as ace, in his situation, that would make you a transphobic bigot as well.

Get it?

........

Television and movies subtly inform our opinions on EVERYTHING.

Going back, and looking at what came before, can often show why people have been conditioned to think the way that they do.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 20:50:26

We can only grow as a society, by pointing out the misteps of our past.

This is why we remember the holocaust.

This is why remember blantant acts of racism, dehumanization, and hate speech.

.......

What this movie shows, is basically the black face equivlent of what a trans person is, who they are, and how you should react to them.

If you don't have a problem with that, its most likely because you are a bigot, that's been conditioned to hate and fear people different from yourself.

(Such as trans people.)

.......

Wake the fuck up man.

Television and Movies, are the opiates of the masses - and they will subtly control you, and inform your opinions, if you let them.

.......

If you're openly bigoted and hostile towards trans people, then we can talk about it.

But at least own up to it.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 20:43:24

This comment was written by a person that thinks trans women are a big fucking joke, and a HORRIBLE threat to society, just for being different.

That what's makes Su1ciety an evil fucking hate monger.

......

He probably still watches old, racist bugs bunny cartoons, and gets a big chuckle out of the "big lipped negro eating watermellon" jokes.

He sure loves to fucking yak it up, with equally bigoted portrays of trans people, so why the fuck not?

.....

Why don't you go burn a cross somewhere?

Be sure to wear a nice little pointy hat, while you're doing it.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 20:40:16

Ok, let's have a little test.

Instead of finding out Eignhorn is transgender, Ace finds out she's 1/80th negro.

He then haves the same reaction, and vomits everywhere.

......

Still funny?

Because if you STILL find it funny after that, you're not only a transphobic bigot, but you're a racist too.

:)

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 20:35:33

I'm a trans person, and I thought the article was pretty spot on.

Granted, Eienhorn was portrayed as a "mentally ill insane person", which is just another bigoted stab at trans people.

Basically, Eihnhorn IS a trans woman. Just a bigoted, hateful stereotype of one, in a movie that openly hates trans people, and portrays them as "evil and corrupt".

.......

By the way, where is this evidence of yours, that people with schizophrenia, often pretend to be trans? You do know that Ace Ventura doesn't count as a medical periodical, right?

Its not like its got a seal of approval from the fucking Harvard Review, or anything.

.....

Its a dumb kids movie, where a guy pretends to talk out of his ass....literally.

If this is where you're getting your science from, you may in fact be brain dead.

Posted by Phluxsix on 2015-01-14 20:33:52

This article is very bigoted and ignorant

Not all people who seek transsexual treatments have the same condition. Many schizophrenic people actually try to get these procedures as wellhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...

Posted by Annon Mous on 2015-01-06 04:37:45

Are you part of a group that is regularly insulted on TV? It's pretty rich for people to sit back and say it's just a harmless bit of fun when it isn't directed at them and it doesn't hurt them in the slightest. in a world where transgender kids kill themselves in roughly 40% of cases this kind of garbage SHOULD be singled out as offensive, because it is. Pull your head out of your ass.

Posted by Kate on 2014-10-26 20:47:25

Science says otherwise. Transwomen are males...... dumbass.

Posted by Im Straight on 2014-10-08 10:34:51

ohhh, you have a gay friend, therefore you're not homophobic! Riiiiiiiiight. I can't believe bigots are still using this "excuse".

Posted by maya_slash on 2014-10-07 07:47:54

Transwomen are women, dumbass, not men. You won't be kissing men. So yes, it makes you both homophobic AND transphobic.

Posted by maya_slash on 2014-10-07 07:46:24

LMAO, "violated". Only transphobes feel "violated" when kissed or *gasp* *shock* touched by trans people. A transwoman is a woman. Period. There is nothing to feel violated about, unless you're a sick bigot yourself.

Posted by maya_slash on 2014-10-07 07:45:46

No, it's your venomous, self-absorbed hatred that says everything about your intelligence and capabilities. The only low here is you.

Posted by Roy Dahlin on 2014-07-05 21:01:56

The homophobia is not in the kissing. It's the awful treatment of the trans-woman at the end. The idea of the villain being in a transgendered disguise is fine but the final reveal could have been handled better. A simple hit to the groin would have been as effective as and more comedic than a shameful and awkward strip-down.

Posted by Roy Dahlin on 2014-07-05 20:55:33

>wahhh I'm so smart and your so stupid

The only bloated ego is your own. Hateful idiots like you so high off your own BS make me sicker than being tricked into kissing whatever.

Posted by Roy Dahlin on 2014-07-05 20:42:23

That's not what the author is saying and you know it. The only stupid ideas are everything you've been spattering here.

Posted by Roy Dahlin on 2014-07-05 20:38:11

I wonder how people like this get through the day without being offended by something. It's just a funny movie that no one in their right mind would take seriously. Get over it.

Posted by Mick on 2014-05-20 16:00:53

I don't see what needs to be defended. There is nothing homophobic about it. The author says that because a straight man feels violated by being tricked into kissing a transgendered person, the movie is homophobic. I've never heard of such a stupid idea.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-10 16:24:56

So anyone that gets disgusted watching two old people have sex is a gerontophobe? You know you are full of it.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-10 16:21:52

I just don't see it. I actually re-watched the movie with a gay friend and told him about your article before we watched it. He immediately laughed when I mentioned your article, since he had seen it in the past. I decided to watch it with him to see if maybe we had forgotten parts of the movie that were homophobic. At the end of the film he agreed that the author of this article has some serious issues. Of course a straight man would be disgusted with being tricked into kissing another man. That is a normal reaction and is not at all homophobic. I find it ridiculous that you would call a movie homophobic because a man in the movie felt violated, which he was.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-10 16:18:34

Just because I view people like you as entertainment to be made fun of doesn't say anything about my intelligence or capabilities. So far you have made zero points and about 3 attacks. You must think low of yourself.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-10 16:07:05

Manchild denial? Is that a scientific term? Your ego is only surpassed by your ignorance. Sounds like you might have little girl syndrome. What a waste of a conversation. How about you let me know when you have something intelligent to say.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-10 16:03:15

One quick hop to your Disqus page argues very much that you are an idiot. You're wasting your time defending your point of view because it's nothing more than an attack.

Posted by No-Personality on 2014-03-08 17:05:47

The movie's age has nothing to do with the point he's trying to make. Its popularity and, clearly, the Manchild Denial of several commenters is the issue. You can make this absurd claim of the author's "mental problems" all you want to but no one other than trolls (such as yourself) will mistake them for true.

Posted by No-Personality on 2014-03-08 17:02:39

They're a critic revisiting a movie from their youth and giving an honest assessment of it. There's nothing mentally ill about that. You're the one getting up in arms over said review. If you disagree, why don't you actually write an intelligent defense of the movie instead of taking cheap shots at the critic?

Posted by Dersu DeLarge on 2014-03-07 21:00:31

If you knew anything about me you would feel like an idiot for saying that.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-07 13:44:01

Whats so idiotic about pointing out the fact hat his author is has some serious mental problems and is projecting them onto a 20 year old movie?

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-07 13:43:19

Exactly my point. Why is this guy trolling old movies to make connections that aren't there about bigotry? Sounds like he has a mental problem.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-03-07 13:42:27

He did...

Good piece! I remember watching it as a youth I was so confused by the final "unmasking" scene that I didn't even know what was being depicted. I thought the final reveal was meant to imply she had messed her pants, which retrospectively is less offensive than what the movie was really doing.

The depiction of intellectual disability is pretty awful as well. R. Kurt, in the interest of progression, just a friendly reminder that Down Syndrome doesn't have an "s" anymore (which some believe connotes someone else's ownership of the syndrome). Thanks for the thoughtful article though!

Posted by Itchload on 2014-02-03 09:09:41

Bumblebee Tuna.

Posted by No-Personality on 2014-02-03 04:47:46

Man... the last time I watched this movie, I completely ignored everything you mentioned. I was in high school. I can't think of one legitimate excuse for not recognizing any of it. Maybe it's like: never in my life seen one man run around with his hands flailing at his sides like the actor you mentioned. So, it's something I never put any stock in.

Anyway, last time I watched the movie, I thought it was terrible. Just in the ways terrible comedies are usually terrible. But, I definitely want to say that I think you are right. Especially that moment where he has that genuine anger in his voice/face.

And I think this movie wouldn't be made today because I think most heterosexual men would psychologically, crudely, think of her as a woman from the neck up (since Ace didn't see her breasts). It wouldn't be made this way because these sorts of reactions just don't exist anymore. (Although, I suppose they're preferable over the idea that ... let's say: what if Einhorn had been the one murdered after being discovered instead of Troy Evans?)

Oh yeah... and I'm guessing Troy Evans was the only guy who thought to cop a feel of her ass... Hard to believe (if she's sending out all the signals... and, yes, it just struck me where I thought of that).

Posted by No-Personality on 2014-02-03 04:43:32

And your idiotic comment will only be voted up by Guest Voters or anonymous cowards.

Posted by No-Personality on 2014-02-03 04:31:14

He's not homophobic? He says.

I'm not so sure.

Posted by No-Personality on 2014-02-03 04:29:34

I think your analysis is spot on. But how could you forget to mention that bizarre scene where the black football player thinks he's coming on to him at the urinal?

Posted by jeremy on 2014-02-02 15:09:57

Uhh...I think I emphasized that the homophobia stems from the film's drastic depiction of men kissing men (or trans women) as an epic horror requiring elaborate cleansing. It's hardly about straight men simply not wanting to kiss other men. Glad to hear you're not homophobic, though!

Posted by R. Kurt Osenlund on 2014-02-02 09:34:22

i used to like this movie, not anymore, its true i get offended many times, but the part were they mock dan marino has nothing to do with it , its actually the funniest scene lol .

Posted by Alias Darker on 2014-02-01 23:20:51

Not nearly as mentally disturbed as someone who'd troll over a shitty twenty-year-old movie which they should have outgrown a long time ago.

Posted by Dersu DeLarge on 2014-02-01 21:53:40

This comment was posted by a mentally limited person.

Posted by chip_dipper on 2014-02-01 17:09:32

This article was written by a mentally disturbed person.

Posted by Su1ciety on 2014-02-01 12:17:38

I don't think you should say its homophobic for straight men to not want to kiss each other. I'm straight, I wouldn't wanna kiss another dude. That doesn't make me homophobic. Funny movie, terrible article.